


Following the Ley Lines

by Masala_Chai



Series: The (maybe) forever WIPs [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Creature OC, M/M, Magical Realism, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Nemeton, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sterek is a side-pairing, Supernatural Elements, and will show up later, druidic-like magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-12 21:36:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15349263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masala_Chai/pseuds/Masala_Chai
Summary: The Hales are good neighbors and the Preserve is magical.(Literally, actually, what with the ley lines running straight under the forest and the town, and the huge Nemeton planted deep into the wilderness.)In which Chaos magic attracts all sort of creatures, even those usually more interested in plants, and Peter Hale is suave and helpful (when it suits him). Also, who thought that it was a bright idea to let a Spark run unchecked and untaught among the mundanes?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have only the vaguest idea/themes for this fic, I don't really know where it's going ;) I just wanted to write something fun/uncomplicated.
> 
> I've been in a writing rush though, so I already have several chapters written as I'll try to keep them at 1k each or about that.  
> -

"Do I regret it? Yes. Would I do it again? Probably."

“Then we have nothing left to talk about.”

“And what do you think you'll do. Leave? Where would you go?”

“Right now? As far fucking away from you as I could manage it.”

“I don't believe you. You could never leave me. We've been together for over _six decades._ You wouldn't know what to do with yourself.”

“First, fuck you. Second, you know what, I should have left the first time I grew tired of you. Which, by the way, was over fifty years ago. I stayed with you because you were familiar, and I was too much of a coward to face the rest of my really fucking long life, alone. I should have trusted my instinct from the start, it would have saved me a lot of stress and heart ache.”

“How dare-”

“Fuck off. Seriously, fuck off. I'm done with you. Done and overdone. Get away from my face. Leave, and don't come back. Ever.”

“Oh, you think that you can push me off, Alexander?”

“Yes, I very much think that. You're a coward. An asshole, but mostly a coward. Get lost!”

“No, I won't-”

“ _Be. gone.”_

Alexander didn't try to control the portal. It opened right behind the fucker he'd stayed faithful to for way too long, and swallowed him within seconds. There was a pop, then no more hint that someone else had been in the room, except for the lingering perfume of metal and burned wood. Alex had no idea where that portal had lead, but quite frankly he couldn't care less. Let the ass try and find his way back on this Earth. At minimum, Alex had a good decade or two of peace. More than enough time to pack their old house in Scotland and find himself a new home. Good fucking riddance to bad rubbish.

-

There weren't many places left in the world, free from humans, but still imbued with magical energy.

Beacon Hills wasn't even one of them. Most of the magical vibrations did come from the Preserve, a large stretch of land covered with trees. On one side, a mountain. On the other, a huge lake. At the bottom of it all, much too close to Alexander's unhappiness, said town of Beacon Hills. And deep in the Preserve, mid way between the mountain and the lake, smack down in the middle of the wilderness, the most exquisite hint of chaotic magic that Alexander had tasted in maybe a century. Probably more.

Finding his new home had merely been a matter of following the ley lines for a few years, until he'd felt some interesting magic. The fact that the ley line crossing the Preserve and passing straight under Beacon Hills would hide Alexander's innate magic as well was just a bonus. He might even be able to live his life for himself once again.

There were already a few supernatural creatures in this county. Alexander could taste their aura on the back of his tongue, when he moved through the town. He hadn't tried to locate them, but he knew they were present. A pack of wolves at minimum. Probably a few magic users too, which would make sense, with _that spot_ in the Preserve.

First, Alexander focused on setting up his new life, making good use of his natural confusing aura to establish a new identity. His new home, so close to the Preserve that it basically was his garden, was still close enough from the town that the drive downtown was under half an hour.

-

“Hello,” the man said from where he was standing on the porch.

Alexander startled, almost falling off his ladder in his surprise. There weren't that many people able to sneak up on him.

“Hello,” he said back, turning to face the driveway through the open door. He discreetly pushed his engraving instruments, hoping that his impromptu visitor would take his runes for pretty new age nonsense. _Trends_ these last decades were useful that way.

The man smiled, a slow, deliberate stretch of lips. “I'm Peter. Peter Hale. I live with my family some ways up in the Preserve. Nice to meet you.”

“Alexander Sheppard,” Alex answered without even pausing on his brand-new family name. He congratulated himself on having already done his “new born” naming ritual again. This werewolf wasn't going to detect any lie in this at least.

“My sister was all set for charging here with my nephew and nieces, half the car filled up with pies and cakes to welcome our brand-new neighbor, but I managed to convince her to wait,” Peter explained, shrugging his shoulders and rolling his eyes. “She's excited that we have such a close neighbor again. This home has been empty for almost a decade now. Our other neighbors are all closer to residential areas at the edge of Beacon Hills. Nobody's much eager to extend their travel time more than necessary, these days.” Peter pursed his lips, not quite frowning.

Alexander had to give it to him, the man was a master at inspiring sympathy and friendship when he wanted. Though he probably was just as good on the not-so gentle side of the things too. This had to be the pack enforcer and his _sister_ was most certainly their Alpha and champing at the bit to meet this intruder who _almost_ settled in their pack lands. Alexander wished that he'd have known that the local pack's house was so close from his. He probably still would have bought it, but at least he'd have worked right away on making sure that the borders were well delimited and protected from supernatural intruders. Now it was going to be a bit more difficult to do it without arousing at least Peter's notice and interest.

“I must thank you then,” Alexander demurred. “I am afraid that... I do not do that well with crowds.”

“Ah, an introvert?”

“Yes. With a dash of 'really bad relationship experience' added,” Alex answered with a self-deprecating laugh.  

He didn't have to worry about being caught lying regarding this subject.

Peter grew immediately solemn. “I understand. You'll... certainly hear about it at some point, as it had been impossible to hide and busybodies are vultures, but... Well, a grown woman preyed on my nephew a few years ago, when the boy was barely 15. She was a psycho, trying to get information from him about the layout of the house in order to kill us all in one fell swoop. We suspect an old grudge between both our families, fed by her own insanity. I'm sure that you'll hear about it quickly enough. I'll let my family know about your situation. They, at least, will know better than to crowd you or overwhelm you with questions.”

His throat suddenly too tight to answer, Alexander nodded sharply.

He hadn't expect the wolf to be so candid or to understand.


	2. Chapter 2

Hale's visit left him in a strange mood. Alexander stared at his tools for a moment, unseeing.

Eventually, he sighed and cleared everything away. With the mood he was in, applying runes around his house would have to wait. He was supposed to imbue feelings of safety and peace, to wave protective wards around his territory. Not to engrave a reminder of his fears that _he_ might show up one day again.

To tell the truth, Alexander wasn't sure how to deal with the Hale pack. Despite not being a mundane himself, he hadn't interacted with a supernatural or magical creature in... decades. _He_ was much too possessive to allow contact with the outside.

And the 15th century had left its marks on all the community, supernaturally inclined or not. So many had been lost to the “witch-hunts” that Alexander hadn't felt the need to get any closer to people than strictly necessary. His kind was long-lived enough that they didn't have many children. With their shifting ability that enabled them to pass for humans, many of them had been caught in the cross-fire. No one, despite knowing about humans love of war, had wanted to believe they would just kill their neighbors like this. The blow to their population was still an open sore. Their memory was long and they tended to be  _vindictive_.

Sometimes Alexander wondered if his kind's need for revenge was responsible for the resurgence and growing power of the Hunter Clans. Then he remembered that humans barely needed the flimsiest excuse to exert their violence on each other.

Alexander shook himself, squeezing all his body muscles tight, then slowly relaxing them. This was his new start, a brand-new life. He wasn't about to let his dark thoughts and bitterness drag him down again.

\--

Beacon Hills, as towns went, was rather in the ‘large’ category. Suburban homes and high rise urban areas meeting together in the valley, surrounded by the hills marking the beginning of the Preserve.

As a result, one could find almost everything necessary for most hobbies, including Alexander’s plant obsession-slash-supernaturally inclined nature. A sprawling plant nursery was installed on the edge of the town, with its own adjoining garden center. It was, Alexander had to acknowledge it, particularly practical. However, while the plants available weren't a complete disaster, and on the whole mostly of good quality, some of it wasn't anywhere near what Alexander wished for.

He glared down at a sorry looking patch of lavender, then walked away before he started pitching a fit. He didn’t need to gain the reputation of being an asshole customer, barely a couple of weeks after he'd settled in this town.  

Alexander strode away, trying to ignore the aura of despair hovering around the plants, and promptly smacked face-first into a teenager's chest.

“Shit, I'm sorry!” said teenager exclaimed, “I should have been looking where I was going, please don't scream at me, I can't deal with yet another person being angry with me today, I'm sorry.”

Alexander barely heard the words. He was too dazed by the sudden influx of raw wild magic flaring in his face to concentrate on words. He stood there in silence for a long moment, hanging onto the kid's arms to keeps himself from just falling on his knees right there, eyes unfocused.

“Er... are you alright?”

“I'm...”

“ 'You...'? Hey, mister!”

Alexander griped the teenager's arms tighter, pushing himself upright again. He swayed a bit, feeling faint, but managed to keep his balance. His voice was another matter though ; he still felt tongue-tied by the sudden afflux of raw magic.

“Are you alright?” the other repeated, voice trembling like he was heading straight for a panic attack.

“Fi- I'm fine,” Alexander finally managed. “I'm fine.”

“You don't look fine.”

“I just... wasn't expecting your magic.” Alexander took a deep breath, centering himself again. He stared at the teenager, a frown on his face. “This is no way to behave, young man. Didn't your family taught you to keep your magical aura to yourself? You are lucky it merely dazed me. If you'd gotten into contact with one of the predator living in this town, it would probably have put them on edge, certainly enough to snap at you.”

The man stared back, mouth hanging open.

Alexander pursed his lips, hands on his hips. “Well? What is your excuse?”

“M- Magic? Are you _nuts_?”

“What!”

“Dude, you are so weird. Look, I'm sorry for bumping into you, really. But I should be going now, bye!”

Alexander stumbled, swaying again under the surge of wild magic following the teenager's emotions, then forced himself to catch up.

“No, wait.” He grabbed the teenager as gently as he could, wincing when the wild energy mixed again with his own. “I need to know if you're playing me or if you're being serious?” he asked.

“What. the. hell.”

“Well, fuck me.” His shoulders slumped and Alexander closed his eyes with a sigh. “I did not need this, when I'm not even finished settling down again.” He took a deep breath, then looked at the kid again. “Very well. Come with me, please. I am aware that you are skeptical-”

“Skeptical? Well, that's one way to put it!”

“-but you _need_ to follow me. Someone with such a wild aura cannot be left to their own device, without even basic knowledge. This is a recipe for disaster, especially in this town. Come with me,” Alexander repeated, tugging the other toward the exit. “I'll give you some proof as soon as we are out of camera range.”

“You're crazy,” the teenager muttered, but didn't try to pull away.

“Maybe. Or maybe I'm saying the truth and you need the information.”

Now that he'd pushed past the worst of the electric energy surrounding the teenager, Alexander took a moment to study him. The teenager looked... tired, he guessed. Dark rings under his eyes, the stinging scent of stress surrounding him like a permanent cloud. His clothes weren't dirty, but they were crumpled, his shirt half twisted around like sticking it inside his waistband had been enough work and he couldn't deal with straightening it too.

“I'm Alexander, Alexander Sheppard,” he eventually introduced himself as they crossed the doors to the outside.

They shared a sigh of discomfort as the heat of the summer day hit them as soon as they'd made it out of the garden center.

“Stiles,” the other answered slowly. “Stiles Stilinski.”

“Nice to meet you, mister Stilinski.”

“Just Stiles. Just... Stiles, please.”

Stiles looked like the energy he'd found to question Alexander's sanity had deserted him. Yet, the wild magic barely contained inside his body was still sparking under Alexander's fingers where they were lightly wrapped around the teenager's wrist.

“You may call me Alexander.”


	3. Chapter 3

They stopped next to Alexander's pickup truck, hidden from the garden center by the vehicle. 

“So. Nobody's watching now. Are you going to show me some  _ magic _ ?”

Alexander stalled, surprised by the emphasis used for the words. Then he realized what the teenager meant.

“I am  _ not _ a pervert, mister Stilinski. Stiles.  Please stand next to me, to hide my hands.”

Stiles stared for a second, then moved forward with a sigh.

The teenager's disbelief was understandable, Alexander knew, which was the only reason why he didn't throw a zap of pure magic at Stiles for his attitude.

Alexander cup his hands together, thumbs touching. He concentrated, then slowly raised his thumbs again, up and away from his skin.

As the digit rose, crystal clear water gentle burbled into existence between his palms, the level rising slowly until there was no more empty space left.

“What. the. fuck.”

“Magic, mis- Stiles.  _ This  _ is a form of magic.”

“And I can do that?”

“Maybe. Or maybe something else. I have trained for a long time, and tend to gravitate toward the same... 'themes', we'll say. Plants, flowers, nature in general.”

“Like the druids of legends?”

“Somewhat. It's more or less the same... 'origin' of the magic, the same way to manipulate it. However, druids are actually trained rigorously and inducted in a sort of... sect, I suppose would be the best English word. Their main goal in life is to maintain the balance of magical energy around the planet.”

“Keep the balance?”

“Yes, too little magic and living things would die, too much and they would be overwhelmed and burn.”

“But druids in legends and myths are often considered... not bad, but untrustworthy?”

“That would be because druids, on the whole, are mostly humans ; mundanes people able to manipulate magical energy.  Humans fall too easily prey to their ambition or arrogance and overconfidence. There are many rumors of druids deciding that some events should be left to pass, for the sake of  _ balance _ , never mind the fact that they aren't supposed to take decision regarding matters affecting people, instead of magic.”

“And  _ that _ would be exactly what almost happened to my pack,” a voice suddenly said from behind them.

Alexander and Stiles whirled around as one in surprise. The water still held in Alexander's hands ended up thrown partly at his car, partly drenching Stiles' shirt.

Stiles yelped and took a step back, bumping into the truck. 

“Peter!” Alexander gasped.

“I did wonder if you knew what those runes meant.”

“Runes?” Stiles glanced back and forth.

“Ah. My apologies. Stiles, this is Peter Hale. Mister Hale, Stiles Stilinski. We met when Peter came to welcome me as I am his family's new neighbor,” Alexander explained.

“Nice to meet you, mister Stilinski?”

“Yes, that Stilinski. My dad's the Sheriff.”

“And what were you two doing, half hidden behind this car?”

Alexander sighed. He'd known Peter wouldn't be able to let a mystery un-investigated.

“I noticed that mist-  _ Stiles _ , was brimming with unchecked raw magical energy. I scowled him for his carelessness, and he stared at me like I was insisting that the Earth is flat.”

Peter frowned, looking the teenager up and down. “I’ve never felt it, but then again, I’ve only seen him in passing in town or at the high-school, when I pick up my nephew. Then again, now that I think about it, Derek said a few times that the Sheriff’s son got on his nerves. He might just have been more literal than I thought.”

“Hey! I’ve never messed with Derek!”

“Maybe not, but remember what I told you, Stiles. Raw magic running rampant around this Derek would certainly agitate and rile him up to the point of snapping, seemingly without reason.”

“Oh. Wait, wait a second.” Stiles threw his hands up. “You said 'one of the predator living in this town',  _ what the hell _ . Predator?!”

“Say hello, child,” Peter half growled, half cooed, disturbingly enough, eyes shining the bright amber of Betas, waving his clawed fingers at the teenager.

Alexander absently caught Stiles, as the teenager threw himself back with another yelp, keeping him from bumping into the truck. Hale's control was actually a marvel. Able to change part of his face without bringing forth the most obvious changes of his brow and sideburns, most did not bother to learn how to manipulate the change this way. They either hid or transformed, no in-between.

“Holy shit, you're a werewolf!”

“Quite. Though, please do not announce it aloud. Mundanes usually take badly when they're faced with us 'monsters of nightmare'. And Hunters are a sad reality of life, of course.”

“What did you mean, about the druid problem?” Alexander asked.

Peter grew serious again. “There is a druid living in Beacon Hills, as you can imagine.”

Alexander nodded. With the bonfire of magical energy radiating from deep in the Preserve, it makes sense. Especially if you count the ley line running underground under the county.

“My Alpha, in her wisdom, decided that the druid would make a perfect emissary,” Peter explained with a sneer.

“Emissary?” 

“One who deals with magic, maintains the protective wards and other magic spells used by the pack, and serves as intermediary between packs or other supernaturally inclined creatures.”

"Oh."

“Yes, it is an important role and the Alpha and emissary should have complete trust in each other,” Peter added.

“But you didn't trust him.”

“No. Not at all. However, I am not in charge.” Peter shrugged. 

Stiles looked around, then crowded forward, voice low. “What happened? Does this have something to do with... Ah. The lady?” he finished awkwardly.

Peter stared at the teenager, then nodded. 

“ 'Lady'?” Alexander asked with a frown. “Oh, about...”

“The woman who raped my nephew, yes.”

There was a long silence, Stiles looking a bit green and dejected.

At least, he didn't spout any macho bullshit about men being unable to be raped, Alexander mused absently. A good sign.

Peter rubbed a hand through his hair, staring at the other side of the parking lot. “I smelled the wolfsbane on Derek's clothes and followed him one day. Wolfsbane is a poison to werewolves,” he added for Stiles. “I found out who he was meeting, then researched her. It turned out that she was a Hunter, busy prying out our house's layout and security information from Derek, while recruiting over killers for her plans, and mixing up some rocket-worthy fire accelerant. I went to your father with my proofs, and she was arrested in the act with Derek. As she was well over ten years older than him, and Derek being only fifteen, she was charged with felony statutory rape and thrown into jail for a few years.” 

Peter took a deep breath, arms crossed over his chest. “It doesn't feel like enough, but our lawyer managed to have her registered as a sex offender, which might limit her movement a bit, later. Maybe. It also gave me time to do more research on the supernatural side of things. I got the Hunter's Tribunal involved,” he added for Alexander's benefit. “And to find out that Deaton was aware of her presence in town and more than certainly of her intentions.” Peter sneered. “He might have been able to weasel out on the subject of her goals, but the fact that he knew about her  _ for months _ but didn't mention it to my Alpha was enough for her to wise up about that druid.”


End file.
